Text Of Herman Statemnt

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 12) -- The following is the full statement by Labor Secretary Alexis Herman on Monday evening, reacting to Attorney General Janet Reno's decision to seek an independent counsel to probe an influencing-peddling allegation against Herman:

"I am obviously very disappointed and extremely baffled by this decision
today. I have done everything humanly possible that I could do to cooperate
with the Justice Department. There's not one document that they've asked me for that I did not provide. I was available to them personally. I interceded personally to ensure that they had all of my financial records from my banks.

"In their own filing today, the Justice Department said neither they nor the FBI
concluded that I've done anything wrong and that is because I have not. These
allegations have been false from the very beginning. I can only assume that
the Attorney General felt that she had to make this decision because of the
statute.

"I was very proud on Friday of last week announce the lowest unemployment
rates in the history of this country in the last 28 years. That is what I
believe the American people care about. I have not been distracted by this
intense investigation for the past six months and I won't be distracted in the
future. I am going to keep doing the work of the American people. That's why
I became Secretary of Labor. That is where my focus has been and that is where
my focus will stay."